Course Overview

To understand how downstream and upstream procurement works in the supply chain, it is important to understand the makeup of a typical procurement organization. Procurement organizations are made up of sourcing and purchasing departments. A sourcing team is primarily focused on finding suppliers and negotiating terms such as price and quantity. Sourcing also involves contract negotiation with suppliers of services and goods. Once the contract is awarded and signed the purchasing teams take over. This is the point where procurement switches from upstream(sourcing) to downstream(purchasing) in an organization's supply chain.

Learning Objectives

• Identify the different stages that occur in upstream procurement
• Identify the different stages that occur in downstream procurement
• Distinguish the difference between upstream and downstream procurement.

*This course references US legislation and statistics.